Toronto filmmaker Ron Mann is distributing his latest documentary, Know Your Mushrooms, on this custom-shaped flash drive. (Timothy Neesam/CBC)

Canadian director Ron Mann is testing a new method of movie distribution, releasing his documentary Know Your Mushrooms on a customized USB stick.

The Toronto-based filmmaker was in the U.S. promoting his new doc — which follows mushroom-hunting gurus and explores mushroom culture — when he discovered a company that creates these flash drives in different shapes, including that of a mushroom.

"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if I put the film Know Your Mushrooms and released it on a USB drive?'" he told CBC News.

Last fall, British company PNY offered a 2GB flash drive for sale in Europe pre-loaded with the 1984 hit Ghostbusters. However, that drive contained digital rights management software in an attempt to prevent viewers from copying or sharing the film.

In Mann's initiative, billed as a North American first, he encourages people to upload Know Your Mushrooms from the 4GB, mushroom-shaped drives and distribute it to others.

Mann encourages those who buy the flash drives to share their copies of Know Your Mushrooms. (Lee Sheppard)

The director's initial order of 500 drives — which he's offered for sale at $59.99 as part of a special edition set to hit stores Sept. 1 — has nearly sold out. A second run of mushroom flash drives is in the works, while a more traditional DVD release is also scheduled for this fall.

"We did this as a fun project. It wasn't as a commercial venture," he said.

"As it turns out, it's hugely popular and we're now thinking of doing a number of films like this."

'We'll see more of this'

Toronto-based Hive Marketing executive Sabaa Quao, who specializes in emerging technologies, gave the project a thumb's up, saying it makes the film "easily accessible" to many people.

"I think we'll see more of this," said Quao. "The economic squeeze in film and television is going to prompt people to look for alternate means to distribute their films."

Mann, who describes himself as "a geek," has already decided on what to distribute next via flash drive: his cult classic movie Grass on a drive shaped like a marijuana joint.

With files from Margo Kelly